Introduction of Potentially Allergenic Foods in the Infant's Diet during the First Year of Life in Five European Countries

Background: Little information is available on infants' age at first introduction of potentially allergenic foods as part of complementary feeding. We aimed to analyze age at the introduction of potentially allergenic foods in healthy term infants relative to recommendations in 5 European countries. Method: Recruitment was conducted from October 2002 to June 2004. A total of 1,678 infants {[}588 breastfed (BF) and 1,090 formula-fed (FF) infants] were studied. In 1,368 infants, at least one 3-day weighed food diary at the age of 1-9 and 12 completed months was available. Results: Six percent of BF infants and 13% of FF infants consumed some potentially allergenic food already prior to the recommended minimum age of 4 months, and 4% of BF infants and 11% of FF infants had already received gluten. There were significant differences in the timing of the introduction of potentially allergenic foods between the countries at the age of 4-6 months (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The time of first introduction of potentially allergenic foods in infants differed significantly between countries, and they were introduced much earlier than recommended in some countries. FF infants received potentially allergenic foods earlier than BF infants. Better information and counseling of parents is desirable. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

PML (promyelocytic leukemia)

Review on PML, with data on DNA/RNA, on the protein encoded and where the gene is implicated

PIAS1 (protein inhibitor of activated STAT, 1)

Review on PIAS1, with data on DNA/RNA, on the protein encoded and where the gene is implicated

When a Politician Disappoints: The Role of Gender Stereotypical Expectations in Post-Scandal Judgment

This study examines how evaluations of male and female politicians are worsened by corruption scandals that disappoint expectations of honesty. Participants evaluated a fictitious politician before and after watching a video about a corruption scandal involving that politician. The manipulated variables were the politician’s sex and whether they shared participants’ political affiliations. Results showed that a female politician affiliated with the participants’ preferred party was the most damaged by the scandal because she had the highest expectations of honesty placed upon her

Autonomous Tissue Retraction in Robotic Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery – A Feasibility Study

In this letter, we describe a novel framework for planning and executing semi-autonomous tissue retraction in minimally invasive robotic surgery. The approach is aimed at removing tissue flaps or connective tissue from the surgical area autonomously, thus exposing the underlying anatomical structures. First, a deep neural network is used to analyse the endoscopic image and detect candidate tissue flaps obstructing the surgical field. A procedural algorithm for planning and executing the retraction gesture is then developed from extended discussions with clinicians. Experimental validation, carried out on a DaVinci Research Kit, shows an average 25% increase of the visible background after retraction. Another significant contribution of this letter is a dataset containing 1,080 labelled surgical stereo images and the associated depth maps, representing tissue flaps in different scenarios. The work described in this letter is a fundamental step towards the autonomous execution of tissue retraction, and the first example of simultaneous use of deep learning and procedural algorithms. The same framework could be applied to a wide range of autonomous tasks, such as debridement and placement of laparoscopic clips

An Open Source Motion Planning Framework for Autonomous Minimally Invasive Surgical Robots

Planning and execution of autonomous tasks in minimally invasive surgical robotic are significantly more complex with respect to generic manipulators. Narrow abdominal cavities and limited entry points restrain the use of external vision systems and specialized kinematics prevent the straightforward use of standard planning algorithms. In this work, we present a novel implementation of a motion planning framework for minimally invasive surgical robots, composed of two subsystems: An arm-camera registration method only requiring the endoscopic camera and a graspable device, compatible with a 12mm trocar port, and a specialized trajectory planning algorithm, designed to generate smooth, non straight trajectories. The approach is tested on a DaVinci Research Kit obtaining an accuracy of 2.71±0.89 cm in the arm-camera registration and of 1.30±0.39 cm during trajectory execution. The code is organised into STORM Motion Library (STOR-MoLib), an open source library, publicly available for the research community

Phytochemicals from Ruta graveolens Activate TAS2R Bitter Taste Receptors and TRP Channels Involved in Gustation and Nociception

Ruta graveolens (rue) is a spontaneous plant in the Mediterranean area with a strong aroma and a very intense bitter taste, used in gastronomy and in folk medicine. From the leaves, stems and fruits of rue, we isolated rutin, rutamarin, three furanocoumarins, two quinolinic alkaloids, a dicoumarin and two long chain ketones. Bitter taste and chemesthetic properties have been evaluated by in vitro assays with twenty receptors of the TAS2R family and four TRP ion channels involved in gustation and nociception. Among the alkaloids, skimmianine was active as a specific agonist of T2R14, whereas kokusaginin did not activate any of the tested receptors. The furanocoumarins activates TAS2R10, 14, and 49 with different degrees of selectivity, as well as the TRPA1 somatosensory ion channel. Rutamarin is an agonist of TRPM5 and TRPV1 and a strong antagonist of TRPM8 ion channels

Didactic and narrative persuasion: An experiment to promote colorectal cancer screening

We tested whether a didactic and a narrative video (i.e. educational content and personal stories versus irrelevant information) could boost colorectal cancer (CRC) screening intention directly and through cognitive predictors of CRC screening behavior. We also tested whether exposure to a story changed participants' affective forecasting, reducing the perception of negative emotions associated with CRC screening (disgust, embarrassment, and fear). The study was conducted online with a between-participants design and recruiting a convenience sample (N =375). We found that, compared with watching the control video, being exposed to the narrative video about CRC screening was indirectly associated with greater screening inten- tion via vicarious experience and positive attitudes, whereas watching the didactic video was positively associated with CRC screening intention only among participants who had received an invitation letter but did not get screened, and among those yet to receive an invitation to screen. In the latter group, screening intention was boosted through positive attitudes. Our findings do not confirm that stories change affective forecasting, but narration likely fosters messages acceptance through vicarious experience. We also found support for the effectiveness of physicians' rec- ommendations in promoting CRC screening, an intervention that might be effectively administered through a generalized, cost-effective video

Synthesis of the Tripeptide Antibiotic Resormycin

A short and efficient synthesis of resormycin, a metabolite of Streptomyces platensis MJ953-SF5 with herbicidal and antifungal activity, is described. The key step in our synthetic approach is a late-stage stereospecific dehydration of a \u3b2-hydroxy amino acid to install the Z -olefin. Because of the modular nature of the synthesis, access to analogues for biological evaluation is readily available

Independent Control of Multiple Degrees of Freedom Local Magnetic Actuators with Magnetic Cross-coupling Compensation

This letter tackles the problem of independent control of multiple degrees of freedom (DoF) systems based on local magnetic actuation (LMA). This is achieved by means of a modular disturbance rejection scheme, with the aim of enhancing the range of use of multiple-DoF LMAs in dexterous surgical manipulators. An LMA actuation unit consists of a pair of permanent magnets, characterized by diametrical magnetization, acting as magnetic gears across the abdominal wall. In this study, the model of the LMA and the time-varying magnetic disturbances owing to the proximity of multiple units are discussed. Subsequently, the developed model is capitalized in order to establish a Kalman state observer for the purpose of developing a sensor-free endoscopic manipulator suited to infer the state of the internal side of the LMA. Afterwards, the same model is used to develop an adaptive feedforward compensator system, with the aim of balancing the magnetic torques acting on the LMAs from the neighboring units in the case of unknown and frequency-varying sinusoidal disturbances. The effect of a magnetic shield, realized by means of MuMetal is also analyzed. The overall control system is modular with respect to the number of units and requires no centralized intelligence. The proposed scheme is subsequently validated by means of experiments performed on a benchtop platform, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach. In particular, the proposed state observer presents a root mean square error (RMSE) ranging from 28 to 47 rpmin the estimation of the rotational velocity of the internal magnet and an RMSE of 1.18 to 1.41 mNm in the estimation of a load torque. The disturbance compensation system provides a reduction of 40% to 50% in the disturbance caused by interacting LMA units